Packaging method and apparatus



Sept. 9, 1941. R. GUYER PACKAGING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed July 22,l1959 glwumvto'z y Regnolds Guger Patented Sept. Y 9, .i941

iA 2,255,25i

PACKAGING METHOD AND APPARATUS Reynolds Guyer, St. Paul, Minn., asslgnorto Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul. Minn., a corporation oiMinnesota Application July 22, 1939, Serial No. 285,994

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a packaging method and apparatus and has for anobject to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive apparatus whichmay be used in a method to package substances adapted to be poured in afluid state into a carton or similar receptacle.

An object of the invention resides in providing a method which may becarried out by simple manipulation and with the use of simple andeiective apparatus.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a method by meansof which foldable trays having a bottom with lateral walls attachedthereto but unattached to each other, together with the substance to bepackaged may be assembled into' a cover.

Another object of the invention resides `in providing a method by meansof which the substance, if desired, may be poured into a bag or linerdisposed within the tray and the substance, liner and tray inserted intothe cover without disturbance of the relation between the substance,liner and tray.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a practical andsimple apparatus for carrying out the method of the invention.

A still further object of the invention resides inA providing a forminto which the erected trays may be inserted and into which the liner,when used, may be placed, said form holding the liner and tray in shapewhile the substance to be packaged is poured.

Another object of the invention resides in constructing the form open atthe top for the reception of the tray and in constructing the bottomwith an opening therein through which a suitable plunger inay beoperated to transfer theY package out of the form.

Another object of the invention resides in providing an apparatus bymeans of which a tray may be erected and inserted into the form in asingle, operation.

.'Afeature of the invention resides in providing anfapparatus by meansof which a package including a tray may be removed from the form anddirectlyinserted into the cover without disturbing the positions of thelateral walls of the tray.

Another object of the invention resides in providing supports by meansof which the packages in the details of construction hereinafterillustrated and/or described.

In the drawing: A

Fig. 1 is an elevational sectional view of an apparatus for packaginguid substances showing the parts thereof generally in diagrammatic form.

` Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the forms used with theinvention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a tray partly erected.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the device for erecting the trays andinserting the same into the forms.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the plungers used with theinvention.

In the packaging of cheese and similar substances it becomes desirableto yutilize as a container a tray having a bottom and lateral Wallshingedly connected to the bottom and free from each other so that thesewalls may be subsetrated in Fig. 2, 'and which is designated by thereference character B. This metal form comand trays may be guided formovement toward and from the assembling device of the apparatus.

Other objects of the invention reside inthe to expose the contents ofthe package. One such tray is shown in Fig. 3, which is particularlyadapted for use in packaging small quantities of cheese' This tray isindicated in its entirety by Athe reference numeral A and is constructedfrom I paper stock of suitable thickness.

is formed with a bottom lil having side walls il and end walls l2hingedly connected thereto through scores i3. The corners betweenthelateral walls are removed so that when the walls ll and l2 are folded upthe tray is formed, which is open at the top and disconnected at thelateral edges. In the use of such trays the customary practice has beento insert into the tray a liner or a sack constructed of suitablematerial to prevent the cheese or other substance being packaged fromadhering to the tray so as to leave the lateral walls and bottom of thetray directly out of contact with the cheese. Such sacks or liners beingwell known in the art have not been shown in detail in the drawing,though it can be readily comprehended that any suitable construction maybe employed for the purpose.

In conjunction with my invention lI employ a number of metal forms, oneof which is illusprises lateral walls I4 and end walls I5 which areljoined together at the corners by soldering or in any other suitablemanner. These walls `are open. at the top and are` connected at theirlower ends by means of plates I6, l1 and I8 novel combination andarrangement of parts and which form in conjunction a bottom, indicatedThe tray A in itsentiretyby the reference numeral I9. The plates 16, I8and l1 are spaced from one another to leave openings 2l and 22 in thebottom which serve a purpose to be presently described in detail. Theupper marginal edges 23 of the walls I4 and I6 are flared outwardly topermit of the insertion of the tray A into the same. It will be notedthat the plates I6, I'I and I8 form a suitable support for the bottom ofthe tray when the tray has been inserted into the form B.

The apparatus'used ,'in conjunction withmy improved method for packagingfluid substance is shown in Fig. 1 and comprises two portions C and D.The portion C serves to erect the trays A and to insertthe same into themetal forms B, While the portion D of the apparatus serves to remove thepackages from the metal forms and insert the same into suitable covers.These portions of the apparatus will now be described in detail.

The portion C of the apparatus comprises a support 24 in the nature ofan elongated table which support has attached to it cleats 25 running inthe direction of the length thereof and spaced from one another adistance slightly greater than the length of the forms B, to form guidesfor guiding the said forms lengthwise along the support. This supporthas formed in it an opening 26 through which may be inserted the formsB. Below the opening 26 is situated a block 21 formed with a passageway2'8 extending through the same, which passageway is of such dimensionsas to snugly receive a folded tray A and to guide the same for verticalmovement upwardly through said passageway. The lower end of thepassageway 28 is ared, as designated at 29, for a purpose to bepresently more fully described. The passageway 28 is llined with a sheetmetal' liner 3l to reduce wear,

which sheet metal liner projects upwardly above the upper edges of theblock and provides a number of tongues 32 lying in continuation of thewalls of the said liner and arranged in converg- 28. One such form.indieated at B2, is lowered through the opening 28 and applied over thetongues 32 so as to take position shown in Fig. 1. The plunger 34 isnext lowered and a blank fed by means of the guide roller 4I over theupper surface of the support 31 and the upper surface 43 of the plunger34. The plunger 34 is then elevated as by means of a food lever plvotedthereto and a treadle, not shown in the drawing. Raising of the saidplunger carries the'blank with it and the said blank, upon striking theflared portion 29 of the liner 3l becomes folded and the blank passesinto the upper portion of the channel 28. Continued upward movement ofthe plunger 34 forces the formed blank between the tongues 32 and intothe form B2. When the bottom I0 of the tray A reaches the bottom i9 ofthe form, continued movement of plunger 34 disengages the form and trayfrom the tongues 32 and elevate the same through the opening 26. Thetray and form assembled are then righted and placed upon the portion ofthe table 24 following the opening 26 and the assemblies of form andtray are then progressed along the said table 24 between the guides 25.Two such assemblies are indicated at in the drawing.

The assemblies 45 with the open portions uppermost as shown in Fig. 1,are next conveyed to suitable apparatus for inserting bags or linersinto the same and for pouring the melted cheese or other substances intothe liners or bags. Such apparatus forming no feature of the inventionhas not been shown in the drawing, though it can readily be comprehendedthat any suitable apparatus may be used for the purpose. If desired,suitable material may be used. for the construction of the trays A sothat the cheese or substances may be poured directly into the same.

In such case liners or bags may be dispensed ing relation. The liner 3lmay be secured to the block'21 in any suitable manner, such as by meansof clip angles 33 soldered to the said liner and secured to the -blockby screws, not shown. The liner is preferably constructed of resilientmaterial to make the tongues 32 flexible.

Operating in conjunction with the passageway 28 is a plunger 34 which ismounted on a vertically extending rod 35. This rod is guided forvertical movement in a guide 36, secured to a support 31. The plunger 34is slightly smaller in dimensions than the passageway 28 so that thesame may pass upwardly through the said pasi sageway with the walls of atray disposed between the said plunger and the liner 3|.

On the support 31 is arranged an inclined rack 38 on which is stacked anumber of blanks 39 from which the trays, shown in Fig. 3, areconstructed. A feed roll 4l serves to remove the blanks one at a timefrom the rack 38 and to deliver the said blanks upon the upper surfaceof the support 31 and against a stop 42 on said support where the saidblanks are immediately below the passageway 28. The guide 36, in whichthe rod 35 is guided for vertical movement, is suitably depressed sothat the plunger 34 may occupy a position such that the upper surface 43thereof is level with the upper surface of the support 31.

In the operation of the portion of the apparatus indicated at C, anumber of forms BI are placed upon the support- 24 in advance of theopening with. In the drawing the liners have been designated by thereference numeral 46, and the cheese or substance disposed within thesaid liners by the reference numeral 41. The entire package, thusformed, is designated at 48 and comprises the cheese, liner and tray.

The portion of the apparatus indicated at D consists of two supports 5Iand 52 which are disposed in horizontal spaced relation a distanceslightly greater than the height of the forms B in which the packages 48are disposed. These supports are in the nature of tables similar to thesupport 24. The two supports 5l and 52 have registering passageways 53and 54 formed therein. The passageway 53 is constructed with a liner 55,similar to the liner 3| in block 21, which liner terminates in tongues56, similar to and serving the same purpose as the tongues 32. Thepassageway 53 is of suitable dimensions to snugly receive the Packages48 and is sufficiently small so as to prevent the forms B from enteringthe same. Disposed along the support 52 are two spaced cleats 51,similar to the cleats 25, which cleats form guides for guiding the formsB for movement to a position over the passageway 54.` In Fig. 2 it willbe noted that the side walls I4 of the forms B have rectangular notches58 therein which are adapted to slide over stops 59 secured to thesupport or table 52 immediately following the passageway 54. These stopsengage the foremost lateral wall Il of the tray A and arrest movement ofthe unit 46 to a position immedirights 62 and 63 which are connectedtogether through a crosshead 64. A guide rod 65 is attached tothecrosshead 64 and is guided for vertical movement in a guide 66 attachedto a support 61. The two uprights 62 and 63 are of such shape andproportion that the same are adapted to enter the openings 2l and 22 inthe bottom I9 of the form B. When the plunger` 6| is raised upwardly, asdescribed in connection with the plunger 34, the unit 46 is raisedupwardly until the marginal edges 23 of the forms B engage the undersurface of the support Further upward movement of the plunger causes thepackage 48 to be forced out of the form B and moved into the passageway53. For the purpose of illustration, two of the lled forms are indicatedat B4 and the form directly over the passageway 54 by the referencenumeral B5.Y

The operation of the portion D of the apparatus is as follows: The units46, upon leaving the filling machine, are placed upon the support 52 andpackage 48 therein are first elevated before the package is forced outof the form, the lateral 'walls Il and I2 of the tray A are notpermitted to expand and follow along the walls of the hner `ualoperation. Y No specic conveyors for feedthe other have been shown.

ing the packages and forms from one locality to It can, however, bereadily comprehended that automatic means may be used for operating thevarious4 parts of the invention and for conveying the packages and partsof the carton, as well as the forms to and from the various localitieswhere the operations are performed. j

The advantages of my invention are manifest. By the method'disclosed,packages employing trays with detached side and end walls, capable ofbeing moved out of closing position, may be easily and quicklyassembled. With my meth- 0d the cheese or other uid substance may bepoured into the assembled container as a mold. By means of the apparatusused the various operations of the method may be easily and quicklycarried out. The apparatus is extremely simple in construction andpositive in action.

Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from thespirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent .1. 'Ihe method o f packaging which comprises shapinga tray and simultaneously inserting the tray in a temporary holder,filling lthe tray while insaid holder, and thereafter simultaneouslyre-' shaping a tray and inserting the same in atemporary holder, fillingsaid tray while in said holder, and thereafter simultaneously removingthe tray and contents from the holder and inserting the same into apreformed enclosing cover, and in restraining lateral expansion of thetray during removal of the tray from the holder and insertion into thecover. v REYNOLDS GUYER.

